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NewType: Chrono Scream (first arc - chapters 1-20)
This is a story I've started to make, constructive criticism and advice on future chapters will be great. (BTW, Gingka's name is pronounced 'jing-ah'.) Any references to people (if any), living or dead, are purely coincidental. Episode 1: The Awakening We know there are worlds out there that are similar to ours. There are also many stories of phenomenons that have yet been explained. This is one of those stories. In a forest on a parallel world similar to Earth in many ways, called Darminia, a lone arctic wolf lay asleep. He had completely white fur and a tuft of fur on his head that split into two bangs that were green near the edges. He had a black belt with studs wrapped around his neck and stomach. He had leg armor on both upper thighs. The wolf's name was Gingka. Gingka opened his eyes, the hazel irises reflected in the rising summer sun. "Oh man", he yawned, "What a nap...." He put his head down on his furry paws. "Hmm?", he said, noticing his white forelegs. "Wait..... what?", he was looking at his body in a panic. "No way!", he screamed, "I've been turned into a wolf!". Gingka nearly fainted out of shock, but stood up anyway after a half hour of letting it sink in. He took one step forward, and lurched into a faceplant. "That didn't go so well", he said, brushing the dirt off of his nose and head. He tried once again and soon got into a good rhythm. "H-hey! This is easy!", he laughed. Gingka started running joyfully at his mastery of his new form. After running through twigs and underbrush he finally saw a light shimmering through the canopy. He was blinded for a quick second, but the scenery took Gingka's breath away. There were numerous trees surrounding a shining crystal clear lake. The bank was dotted by what seemed to be an infinite amount of stones. The sky was a blue as the lake itself, and the sun was just about in the middle of the sky; noontime. "Woww.....", Gingka said, at a loss for words. The wonderful sight was interrupted by some smoke in the distance. "Wonder who's over there? Maybe they know what happened to me." Gingka hopped down the cliffside and dashed through the grass, tickling him. When Gingka got to where the smoke was coming from, it wasn't a campfire. A nearby building lay in ruins while something large caught Gingka's eye. It looked like a medium-sized panther, but there were no eyes to be seen on it's head. There were sharp blades on its shoulders and elbows, and a huge axe at the tip of its tail. It somehow sensed his presence. Snarling, its claws shot out of its paws, and the blades on its body sharpened and enlarged. Gingka, growing scared, didn't know what to do. He had never been in a fight before. So, as usual, he went with instinct: run. Gingka darted forward towards the beast, as it did the same. It pounced at the arctic wolf. It had pinned Gingka underneath one of its humongous paws. It started pressing down, squeezing his ribcage. Gingka could do nothing to stop it, he was going to die. Minutes before he lost conciousness, a shadow darted past him. The shadow looked much like a cat's. Unknown to Gingka how it did this, it split into three copies of itself! Each one raced toward the eyeless feline, before jumping into the air, doing a somersault. Gingka was losing breath quickly, and everything was going white. Just before he blacked out, he heard the cat cry out something, It sounded like an attack name: 'Triple Saw Barrage'. When he came to, the beast was lying on the ground, fading. The cat who saved him was standing overhead. "Are you okay", he said, looking worried. "You almost died, facing a Flood like that." Gingka was confused. "F-flood? What's that?", he asked, sitting up. He looked at the cat's face. It was completely black and had a diamond-shaped patch on its forehead, near the bridge of the nose; along with a few fringes of hair stylized in a sideways position. "That beast you just fought, was a Flood. Its one of the lower-leveled Deformed." Gingka's eyes widened. "Low-leveled?! That thing almost killed me!" "Calm down, hothead. By the way, who are you? Where did you come from?" "I'm- I'm a human, but I got transformed into... this", Gingka replied to the confused cat, "Who are you?" "Wait, wait wait- a human? You look like a normal wolf to me. By the way, I'm Twilight. You don't look so good. Lemme take you back to my campground," he said with a friendly look in his eyes. Gingka was taken by surprise. "Does this guy trust every stranger he meets? Oh well, may as well take up his offer." Gingka was silent for a moment, then replied, "Sure, w-where is it?" The cat smiled, "Follow me." Both of them walked lively into the forest as the sun was setting. Episode 2: Friends and Enemies When they arrived at camp, Twilight led Gingka to a small tent. "This is where'll you'll sleep", he meowed. Gingka plotted into the skin-brown hut and settled down on the fur bedding. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. The next morning, Gingka was awakened by Twilight's bugging. "Oy! Wake up! There' someone I want you to meet!" "O-okay", he sputtered. "She's this amazing warrior, her name's Victoria." Gingka was at a loss for words, because, in front of them was the most beautiful canine Gingka ever laid eyes on; a husky. She had a fully white coat, save for a few patches of brown, sky blue eyes and a mess of hair covering her left one. She was swinging around a trident connected by a chain of energy. Whirling it at targets, she looked at Gingka before smashing one, if not all, to pieces; which made him wince. She put her weapon down and walked over to the two. "Hey boys", she said with a friendly look in her eyes. "H-hi", Gingka stumbled over his words. "Do you know where Victoria is?" Twilight did an anime trip and instantly fell onto the ground. "That IS Victoria!", he said stumbling up. "Oh, sorry about that confusion", Gingka apologized. "Sometimes I have a hard time paying attention." "Oh, that's okay", Victoria said, grinning. Gingka started blushing at the comment, but didn't have time to respond. All of a sudden, a gigantic monster burst into the campground. It looked like a rhino and a tiger combined. "Aw, Jeeze! A Scrapper? At a time like this?", Twilight whined. "Scrapper", Gingka asked. "Yeah, it's stronger than a Flood--" Victoria was suddenly interrupted by the beast's fist punching through the air. It knocked her halfway across the camp, and gave her a nosebleed. "Alright, you've asked for it!", she bellowed. Victoria summoned her trident out of thin air and made a beeline for the beast. To Gingka's surprise, she turned right around! She screamed something: "Afterlife chains!" The trident wrapped around the Scrapper, binding it for a while. Twilight split into three copies and was going for a hit. "Triple saw barra-- ack!", twilight got slammed into the side of a pine tree by the beast's tail. What were they going to do? Victoria was nursing a very bad nosebleed and broken jaw, and Twilight was unconscious near a tree! Gingka was the only one left, and he was going to meet Death for sure. "I don't want to die! I wanna live! I'll fight for my friend's sakes- I won't let them die in vain!", Gingka thought. Now, a beam of light was materializing in his mouth. He could feel it, a growing fire, hungry for vengeance. The beam became a sword. It had a crown-shaped hand guard and a grey handle. The blade was split by a red crystal that became the teeth of the sword. Gingka was energized and seething with anger at the Scrapper. He darted at it, the sword started glowing a brilliant red. "Take this", Gingka growled. "Flare Crescendo!" As he said that, flames burst out of the blade, engulfing the beast and sending it across the campground and into the lake with a ginormous splash. "G-Gingka...", Twilight said, groaning."Y-you're alive..." Later, after helping Twilight recover from his injuries, they all sat down to a hearty dinner. Episode 3: A Scream of Gold, A Heart of Silver The next day, Gingka woke up bright and early. He was trotting down to the Wolfgar statue in the middle of camp. Wolfgar, in case you don't know, is the legendary 'god of wolves'. He gave existence to all canines before giving up his immortality to prevent the planet's destruction during the last ice age. His spirit wanders Darminia, giving strength to all who see his astral body. "Twilight", Gingka started. "Who else has come through here?" Twilight looked at him strangely. "Whaddya mean, 'who else'?" "Well, I can't shake the feeling that I have come here before; like I know this place...." "Gingka, you're imagining things", Twilight laughed. "Twilight! Gingka!", a voice called out to them. It was Victoria, running alongside another dog; a German Sheperd. "Oh, hello Victoria", Gingka said, trying to hide his blushing. "W-who's this?" "This is Silver." Victoria put her paw up to the canine next to her. He was wearing an unusual choice of attire. He had a necklace of small bird skulls and beads wreathed around his neck, along with a bovine skull on his head like a helmet. His hair was messy and scattered in long locks across his face and neck. "Hey", Silver said, his rich voice sounded uninterested. Gingka smiled cheerfully, "Hey Silver!" Silver looked away, preoccupied. "So, what do you doing around here?" "Gingka, was it? I'm pretty new here, even though I've been in hiding for a few months, I still haven't made many friends." "Oh..... Well, nice to meet you!", Gingka replied to Silver's unmoving eyes. Now, Silver's eyes shifted from Gingka and the rest to the road at the opening of the camp. A tan, brown crescent maned wolf walked up the rocky path. The wolf had a black patch over it's left eye, and the symbol of a playing card suit on it's side; a spade. Silver had a look of determination on his face. "So, I had a feeling I'd find you here.", the wolf's voice was female. "Spade. What do you want?" "Oh, hey Silver.... Didn't see you there. You have had a habit of disappearing now and then.", she said, sailing past Gingka, her fur gently brushing him. "Oh- um", Gingka all of a sudden felt dizzy. "Wh-what's going on...? A.... a dizzy spell....? Oh...", Gingka thought as he collapsed on the ground, When Gingka opened his eyes, he say a hazy, dreamlike area. "Where am I?" He looked around at the smoky environment. All of a sudden, a shape appeared in front of him! It looked like Spade's. She had a sad look on her face, whilst open wounds, cuts, and scars were scattered on every other part of her body. Tears ran down her face as she cried something. It wasn't audible to Gingka at first, but as it got clearer and clearer, her wounds got worse and worse; blood welled out of some of the tiniest slicks on her body, and scars got bigger and more intense. She was screaming for help. Gingka felt like he was having a terrible nightmare. He closed his eyes to avert the tragedy that happened to the vison after that. When he opened his eyes, Spade and Silver were tensed up, ready to fight each other. Her screams still echoed in his ears, ad he drowsily got up. "W-what.... happened....?", Gingka asked groggily. "Oh, Gingka! You're awake!", Twilight cheered. Silver and Spade exchanged looks and then paced 6 steps. "It looks like they're having a showdown. What happened? Not enough sleep?" Gingka couldn't bear to bring himself to say what he saw. "I'm- I'm fine", he lied. Gingka looked to the scene in front of him. Spade rushed Silver, her gold coat flowing in the zephyrous breeze. She cuffed Silver just seconds before he jumped out of the way. Silver did the same. This continued before Silver bluntly said: "I think everyone is getting bored with this, Spade. Let's give 'em sonething to remember!" "Agreed, Silver." They quickly exchanged claws and kicks, until they both were bleeding from the fresh cuts that were just delivered. Silver gave Spade a fast left-hook and several bites and headbutts. Spade couldn't do anything, Silver was moving like lightning. Spade looked just like she did in Gingka's vision! She was barely strong enough to stay standing. "H-hel..... help...", she said coarsely. Ginkga, without thinking, ran in front of Silver's attack, shielding Spade's weakened body. Everyone was blinded for a second. When the light faded, everyone, even Spade herself, gasped. Gingka was on the ground motionless. He was still breathing, but seemed to have fainted from Silver's blow. "Gingka", Twilight and Victoria screamed in unison. "Gingka! Gingka, wake up!" Everyone looked at his motionless, sleeping body, thinking 'what was Silver thinking?' Episode 4: Errands Whilst Gingka was still sleeping, everyone had to do their part around camp. Some cleared out Floods and other Deformed, while others cleaned up and got things from the nearby town. Twilight was called to Victoria's side. "What", he said panting. "What.... did you need?" Victoria looked down at the feline. "I need you to run into town and see if they carry these items." Victoria handed Twilight a list. It had apples, rope, and some other items. "Okay, sure", Twilight started. "I'll go get these things for you." "Thanks, Twilight. You're a true friend." Twilight scampered off to the shop. Meanwhile, Silver was checking on Spade and Gingka. "Spade...... When you wake up.... You'll pay for what you did to my father", Silver thought soundly. Images rushed through his head; a city lay in ruins, many buildings on fire. Many animal citizens lay dead, blood staining their fur and feathers. In the wreckage, a young German Sheperd sat at another's side. "Daddy? Daddy, wake up.... Please!" Silver opened his eyes. A small tear formed in his right eye. Silver turned to Gingka, wondering why he took a blast that powerful for someone he hadn't even known before. Silver, being the mystic he was, touched Gingka's snoozing body. Silver concentrated, closing his eyes. A powerful convulsion shook him to his core. He started quivering, his eyes shutting tighter by the second. Silver thrust himself away from Gingka, worried. "Has this human come to bring destruction to this world? When I touched him, all I could see was a shadow on his soul. An everlasting darkness...... Gingka, who... '''what' are you?!" Silver ran away, fearing what he had just experienced. Victoria was sitting near the lakeside, when she turned to see Silver's running presence."Victoria," Silver said, huffing and puffing. "Victoria, a-are you sure this wolf belongs here with us?" Victoria looked at him funny. "What do you mean, 'belong'?" "Well," Silver started, "I've read that wolves have brought ruin to whole nations." Victoria could tell he was lying. "Silver, did you touch Gingka to see into his heart?" Silver started backing away. Victoria pounced on Silver, pinning him to the ground. Her voice was raising. "Well?!" "I-I did see into his heart, but all I saw was a shadow. Ruin upon Darminia; a world where death rules over all.", he panicked. Victoria stepped off of Silver. "Oh, I see whats going on here......", she started, with her fangs beginning to be bared. "You hated Spade and nearly killed her! Now, you want to do the same for Gingka, am I right?!" "Well I-I", Silver started before running off. "Hey, Victoria", a voice beamed behind her. It was Twilight, carrying a bag in his mouth. "I got the stuff you requested.", he said with his mouth full of cloth. He dropped the brown sack at her feet before scampering off to the tent where Spade and Gingka were recovering. "''What is Silver thinking?", Victoria questioned before going back with Twilight. They entered the tent just as Spade was trying to get up. "Oh... Ack!", she started to fall. Suddenly, a head caught her. It was Gingka's, he had recovered quicker than everyone thought. Gingka helped her sit up, before becoming dizzy again. He swayed around, and his eyes seemed to take on a faint glow. "In the shadows, an evil resides. Killing for sport, killing for fun." Gingka was starting to twitch. "The truth lies through a mirror of fate, The wolf who came here, came to open the gate." Gingka opened his eyes to see everyone standing around him. "You alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine Spade. What happened?" Everyone exchanged glances, until Silver came through the crowd. "You, my fiendish friend, have a rare ability." Gignka was confused. "Ability?" "Yes..... The 'Chronological Scream." Episode 5: Lion of the Shadows It was morning. The sun's radiant glow spreading across every blade of grass, until it crept up on the snoozing bodies of Twilight and Gingka. The wolf's eyes opened slowly as the rays of light penetrated his pupils. "Ohh......", he yawned. "Hey. Twilight, get up." He playfully cuffed the young cat. "Five more minutes, mom", Twilight mumbled before drifting off again. Gingka thought it was hopeless and walked out of the tent. Victoria was waiting outside, her fur coat gleaming with the sunrise. Gingka's face grew red as she started talking to him. "Where's Twilight?" "He's still asleep." "Oh", she said, not surprised. "Well, I wanted you two to go on patrol." "Patrol?", a voice beamed. Twilight was outside in a flash. "I'm expert when it comes to those!", his eyes sparkled like diamonds. "Okay", she chuckled. "You can take Gingka out on patrol with you." After they left, Victoria roused Silver and several others for the daily swarm of invasion attempts by the Deformed. It was usually Floods and Scrappers; nothing they couldn't handle. As Twilight and Gingka were waltzing through the sunlit forest, they heard some ravenous scuffling. A few yelps and screeches were overheard on the other side of a large hedge. They both peered through some holes in the leaves, And what they saw, they couldn't believe! A young wolf pup with green eyes, grey fur and a white muzzle was fighting a Airgle, a Deformed that looks like an eagle. "Something's not right about that pup", Twilight whispered. "What do you mean?" "Look, around his neck." Gingka eyed the wolf's neck and saw a red pendant. It looked like a 4-pointed star with two points bent upwards. "Arrrrrgh!" The wolf got sent flying into an oak tree after the creature threw him with it's talons. He felt something wet run down his shoulder. It was blood. His shoulder had been sliced open minorly by the attack he had just survived. "Alright, you brought this upon yourself!", he snarled. The pendant around his neck started to glow a firey red. His body glowed with the same aura too. He felt anger rising up inside of him, bottling up. His body started to change; his hair grew longer and his muscles bulged slightly. The pup howled to the heavens above as if someone up there could hear him. He bounded towards the bird-like monster, leaving flames spouting from every step. "Raaaaahhhh!" With a few cuffs and a bite to follow up, the Airgle lay disappearing on the ground. The glowing aura around the young wolf died down, and the necklace did the same. "What.....", Gingka started. "Happened...?", Twilight finished. The youngster scratched his ear with his grey hind leg before staring wide-eyed at the pair. "Who are you?", he asked, with anger mixed with his curious voice. "We're- We're friends! Promise!", Gingka hooted, trembling. "Oh.....Okay!", the pup smiled cheerfully, as if to invite them to come closer. "Come closer. I won't bite!" "What's your name?", Twilight queried. "Geo. What are yours?" "I'm Twilight.....", Twilight pointed to himself and then Gingka. "And this is Gingka." Geo squinted at Gingka, his eyes staring into the arctic wolf's. "Gingka, huh?" Geo whirled around. "You don't seem so bad!" "Do you need a place to stay? We have a campground, if you'd like to come back with us." Twilight pulled Gingka down by his scruff. "What are you doing?", he hissed. "This guy is a total stranger!" "Yeah, I know, but--" "Look at him! You've seen what he can do!" Gingka looked at the spot where the Airgle used to be. "Well, we've gotta get going....", gingka laughed sheepishly. The duo soon skedaddled to the edge of the forest. "Now what are we supposed to do?!", Gingka yelled. "We can't go back with nothing!" "Well, I don't want die!", Twilight screamed, louder. "Remember what that kid did?! He got angry and he quite figuratively blew up!" "He was just defending himself from the---" Gingka stopped mid-sentence when the tall grass in front of them started rustling. Two eyes; one sky blue, the other glowing purple peered from in-between the blades. Both of them were growing quite scared from what was in front of them. Dramatic, scary music started up from nowhere. "Wait", Gingka thought. "The music cue just changed abruptly. Something's not right here....." A lion, with golden fur covering every inch of it's body stood regally in front of them. "Well, well, well. What have we here?" "Um...... hi", Gingka squeaked. He tried to dart away, but he soon found himself smack-dab in front of the beast again, no matter what direction he ran in. "Where are you going?", it said, the tone of its voice clearly let out it was male. He craned his neck, cracking it. "Don't move. This'll only hurt alot!" Just as he said that, the lion pounced on top of the white wolf. His teeth tore into Gingka's flesh, leaving Gingka unable to do anything while he was viciously mauled. "Leave my friend alone! Twin Hammer!" Twilight leaped into the air along with two other clones, which proceeded to grab each other and form a shape similar to a sledgehammer. Twilight slammed it into the lion's head, knocking him off balance and off of Gingka. Gingka was breathing heavily, fresh blood spattered his white coat. Twilight landed at Gingka's feet and gave him a splash of something crude-smelling. "It's a potion, you'll get used to the smell." "Ugh.... Aw, man..... W-what was--- Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Gingka screamed as the lion caught him off guard again, landing on top of him. The golden-furred beast started tearing into Gingka's back and left thigh. Twilight couldn't do anything for the wounds Gingka was receiving; no ailment he had on him could heal the poor wolf. Blood seeped into the grass as the lion gave Gingka a long, cold stare. The purple eye started glowing brighter than before, the slit becoming sleeker than usual. Gingka felt like he was being ripped apart, as part of his soul left him. The glowing ball of energy formed into a shape exactly like Gingka's. "My name's Ren. Commit it to memory." And with that, the lion disappeared in a gust of wind. Gingka lay on the ground, bleeding to death and feeling sleepy. "Goodbye... T... Twilight.....", Gingka whispered as he closed his eyes. "Gingka? Gingka! Noooooo!!!", Twilight wailed. Gingka abruptly opened his eyes as if being shocked. "I'm not dead, you idiot!" He then closed his eyes as soon as Victoria and Silver came running up to them. "What happened", Silver asked, finally showing a tone of concern in his voice. "We heard screaming and then....." "Gingka's been attacked." "What!", Victoria cried increduously. They huddled around Gingka's near-dead body as they mourned the sad moment. "Poor lad.", Victoria said, tears streaming down her brown and white coat." "I know, Vic", Silver comforted. "There is hope. Let's get back to camp and I'll explain my plan." After they left, a young wolf pup silently followed them. It was Geo. Episode 6: Journey to the Cave of Convergence Three weeks after the near-murder that Gingka experienced, he had completely recovered, save for a few minor bruises. Spade, Victoria and Twilight all went to the Shadowlands in search of the Stream of the Six Kings. There they got some spring water and magically healed his wounds. Everyone had also taken a liking to Geo. "Guys", Victoria stated. "I want everyone at the Gathering Place at once!" Five long minutes later, everyone on camp had gathered. The hall was abuzz with the news of the day. "Everyone! Everyone!" All heads turned to Victoria. "Now, I know everybody has been chattering about our newest member, Spade" Spade had walked up into the vestibule a few minutes earlier. "I also know that some of you don't trust her. Silver, Thistle, and Geo?" All three looked up with a look of concern on their faces. "What is is my queen?", Thistle said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I want all three of you to go with Spade on an important mission to the Cave of Convergence." Victoria's eyes glinted and glared at the three animals. "Wait a minute!", Thistle said abruptly. "That's far to the East! I hear there's a pack of bandits there!" "Oh, hush now. Silly rabbit, tricks are for -- oh, nevermind", Victoria said with a smirk. "Gingka, I'm afraid you'll have to sit this one out; even with your mastery of two abilities." A vein bulged on Gingka's head. "Whaddya mean, 'sit this one out'? I've been training hard! Plus, Thistle doesn't have a weapon!" "That's enough", Victoria boomed. "Thistle, I'm going to give you a weapon." A ball of light shimmered out of her paw and flew directly to Thistle. "This is the Tai Longbow. Treat it with care." Thistle looked it over, scanning it's green framework and light-blue highlights. He then hopped out of the vestibule and tried to fire an shot. "Tai Arrow!", Thistle shouted as red energy pulsed in-between the arrow and bowstring. The energy then coursed through the arrow and sent it flying through the air, knocking the heads off of several practice targets. Everyone looked in awe as Thistle started goofing around, sending multicolored arrows into the sky like fireworks. The next day, Geo, Thistle, Silver and Spade set out for the cave to get a Time Shard for the campground. Geo was walking along, leaves crunching under his tiny paws. "So....", Geo started. "What is a Time Shard exactly?" Silver looked at him. "It's a crystal that-", he was suddenly interrupted by Spade. "Controls time and can be used for a barrier around a certain area." She smiled at the annoyed German sheperd. Thistle was hopping behind them, his dark green ears flopping in the wind. "So where is this cave?", he asked. "Oh, it's just over the rainbow", Silver said sarcastically. "Where bluebirds fly", Geo quickly added. A few hours later, they got to the mouth of a sinister-looking cavern. "This is the cave?" "Yeah", Spade said, looking at Thistle and Geo. "This is the Cave of Convergence." Everyone entered and Thistle was left behind at the entrance. "Thistle, come on!", Geo cheered. "I'm going to regret this....", the rabbit said with a pessimistic tone in his voice. He hopped inwards with Geo, joining up with the group . After traversing for two hours, they finally got to a large door, with ornate carvings and footprint runes on it. "These are footprint runes?", Geo said, sniffing them. "They're kinda hard to read....." "That's because you don't know how to", Silver replied before proceeding to read them. "The ones who wish to recieve the treasure of the heavens must first pass the test." Thistle looked up. "T-test?! I'm bad at arithmetic!". He nearly fainted, but not before Geo slapped him awake. "Get ahold of yourself, man!" "G-geo? Is that you? You look different." The rabbit was not lying; Geo did indeed look different. His grey legs were longer, and the tiny muscles on his arms were tenser than before. His pendant was glowing, but brighter than normal. "I am Geo's deceased brother, Akira. My spirit is embodied in this pendant.", the wolf said, holding it up. "I'm sure that whatever this'' test'' is, it's nothing my brother can't handle." The bodily changes to Geo reverted, and Geo was standing around, dazed. "W-what happened?" "Your brother; Akira. was it? He said that you can handle the test" Geo looked funnily at Spade, the brown wolf had a toothy grin spreading her face. "Akira said that? But he's dea-", Geo said, suddenly interrupted by three Floods stalking up behind them. Silver had a look of intensity on his face, Geo's pendant glowed as his body flowed with a firey aura, Spade's tail morphed into a lance, and Thistle readied his Tai Longbow. The Floods growled and snarled, their blades sharpening across their bodies. Everyone was ready to fight. The team flung themselves at the monsters and they did the same. Episode 7: Doppleganger At camp, everyone was preparing for the team's arrival. Cats and dogs were out gathering food and twigs for the feast and bonfire. Gingka was sitting at the doorway of Victoria's tent. "Okay. Time to get some answers.", Gingka thought as he started walking through the open flap. He suddenly bumped into Victoria and both were sent sprawling across the room. "Ow,ow,ow,ow....", Victoria muttered, rubbing her head. "Knock, knock." Victoria looked up and saw Gingka, the white wolf was standing overhead with a look of concern on his face. "Step off!", she growled, pushing Gingka away. "Sorry!", Gingka bowed. "I want some answers. I want to know what happened to me." Victoria suddenly threw her head up in surprise. "Answers?! To be honest, I don't know what happened to yo-" Gingka heard nothing. He was staring into space, eyes wide and trembling. "Amongst your ranks, an assassin awaits.", He started, with a voice of fear shakily coming out. "Their mission a secret, no one is safe." Gingka suddenly snapped back to reality. "What was that? Another vision?" Victoria brought her head right up to Gingka's. His face glowed beet-red. "I-I-I- I think s- so....." "Anyway. As you know, everyone around camp is getting ready for the team's return." Yes......?", Gingka nodded. "So, I want you to go fetch some berries." "Okay, I'll head out now." As Gingka walked out of the tent, Victoira pondered his vision: 'Amongst your ranks, an assassin awaits....' and 'Their mission a secret, no one is safe.' "An assassin? But who?" "So I need to get some berries..... Okay, no problem." Back in the cave, the team of Geo, Silver, Thistle, and Spade were faced with three Floods. Geo took care of the first, and Spade and Thistle tag-teamed the second. Silver was at the back, healing one minute, and firing off magic spells the other. "Ember Bullet!, Silver shouted as a ball of flame, shaped itself into a small slit. It rocketed into the Flood's chest, leaving it with a nasty burn. "Tai Kuro Rain!", Thistle, saying this like it was his job, let forth a slew of black and purple glowing arrows. The projectiles pierced the Flood like a knife and led to a large explosion. "Hit the deck!" Geo tackled everyone to the cave floor as the explosion clouded the air with dirt. When the smoke cleared, they saw that the doors had been blasted open. "That was easy.", Thistle smugly said. "Good plan. Glad I thought of it." The rabbit hopped into the room and snagged a piece of the enormous crystal. "Why don't we just take all of it?", Spade said as she tried moving the glowing rock by force. The stalactites at the top of the cave started shaking erratically. One of the enormous ones fell and landed in front of Spade. Breathing heavily, she looked in panic to the rest of the group. "Cave-in!" Everyone started running for their lives. "Looks like it's time for a fade-out!", Geo screeched. Meanwhile, Gingka finally found some fresh berries. "Yes! These are raspberries and blackberry bushes! Victoria will be so pleased!" Gingka thought nothing of the shape behind him, because it looked just like him! Gingka was just turning around when he bumped into the shape. "Ow! Hey watch it--".Gingka yelled, then stared wide-eyed at the shape. It was a Doppleganger. Ren had said so a few days ago. According to Twilight, these Deformed take on the shape of whatever they see, friend of foe. It exhaled at Gingka, leaving a cloud of smoke in his face. Next thing that happened, Gingka felt a sharp pain, like he was being attacked. The Doppleganger had latched onto his arm and was biting down, drawing a little blood. He shook it off and ran for his life. He had only a few more yards until he reached the campground. Silver said he had put a temporary spell around it. "Victoria!" Gingka leaped towards the border of the camp. Gingka barely made it as the creature tailing him bumped into an invisible wall. "Take that! Haha!" Gingka made a grimace and skipped happily to the vestibule. "I wonder how Geo and the others are doing? I sure hope they're alright...... I like it when they do a scene like this." Back at the cave, everyone was sprinting towards the opening of the cave. Everyone was leaping for their lives, everyone except Thistle, who was carrying the shard. He saw Geo running in the path of a sharp stalactite. "Geoooo! Noooo!" Thistle pushed Geo out of the way, before being suddenly crushed. The shard lay on the ground, and Thistle nowhere to be seen. "Oh no. Not Thistle....." Everyone mourned their comrade's death. Later they all got to camp and sat down to a feast fit for a king. "You know.....", Gingka said between chomps of beef. "I sure hope the writers do a better job next time...." "You said it!", Spade smiled back. Episode 8: Pocketwatch Memories Spade lay on her pallet nearby Silver's comfy furry bed. She couldn't sleep. She was thinking about her 'mission'. "I was sent here to...... Kill Gingka." Spade didn't know why, but Lord Angel said to journey to this camp, and seek out a lone arctic wolf.... and kill him. She had decided to get up and go for a stroll. It was nightime, and Deformed weren't out at midnight. She walked along the dirt path until she got to a large cave. In her mind, memories resurfaced. A small wolf pup, about 3 1/2, walked up to the mouth of the cave during a blizzard. It was Spade, at a very young age. "H-hello?", her young self said. "Is anyone here?" Two red eyes pierced through the pitch-black darkness. "Who are you? Why have you come here?", it bellowed. "M-my name's Spade. I'm cold and want a place to sleep for the night." Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw four more wolves in the cave as well. "Why should we help you?" "I'm cold and would like to stay here for a while. Who are you anyway?" The wolf looked at her with a look of question on his face. "My name is Zaku. Now leave!", the wolf, roared. "Or else we'll make you." "No way!", Spade huffed. "Lord Zaku, this female won't leave us! I think we 'oughta teach her a lesson!", one of the other wolves whispered. "Good idea....", Zaku said, smiling malevolently at Spade. "Nexus!" A white wolf with green eyes and patches of green around his mane and tuft of hair looked up at Zaku. "Yes?", Nexus said. "I know." He walked up to Spade, facing her intently. "Now to teach you not to mess with your elders!", he said as a sword appeared in his mouth in a bright flash of light. Nexus thrust the sword at Spade, making her jump out of the way. He disappeared and quickly reappeared behind Spade, catching her off guard. Nexus thrust again, impaling her left foreleg. Spade bent down, examining the open wound. It was bleeding intensely. "Time to finish you off!", Nexus laughed, before thrusting the sword at her heart. Nexus was caught off guard for the first time in his life. A lance, made out of what appeared to be sharp needlelike hair, had struck his chest. He started swinging wildly, and Spade's tail countered every move before spearing him once again. Nexus couldn't take much more, and he collapsed on the blood-stained cave floor. "S-she.... She....", one of the wolves started. Zaku looked at the others, stopping their chat. "Very well. Not every day, someone beats my top warrior." Zaku marched up to Spade. "How would you like to join our pack?" "Yes! Thank you!", Spade cheered, tears in her eyes. The memory ended. Spade looked with disgust at the cavern and had sprinted off to the ruins of a city. Another memory resurfaced."This is the town we're going to raid.", Nexus said, pointing to a town on a map. "Okay.", Spade said, eyeing Zaku. "Let's go." All six of them ran off to the pinpointed city. Moments later, they had approached the city. It was a small, quaint one; not much going on here. "All of you, take all of the food you can see. I have my own matters to attend to.", Zaku ordered. Everyone split up from then on. Spade had gotten satchels full of food. Nexus had gotten a few maps and weapons, and several of the other wolves had the task of getting a few of the townspeople 'out of the way'. Spade had finished with her objective and decided to report to Zaku. When she had gotten to where he was, she saw that something was happening. Spade hid just out of their earshot, and listened intently to the event unfolding in the room next to her. "Where is it?! I want to know where it is!", Zaku punched the wall, nearly missing the German Shepherd he was threatening. "I'll never tell you.", the dog replied. "Silver! Get out of here!" A smaller German Shepherd ran away frantically, scrambling for the stairs. Spade couldn't hear what happened next, but when she looked in, the scene was terrible. The German Shepherd lay on the floor dead. Zaku turned around, his mouth stained slightly with blood. "What are you doing here?!", he roared. "I- I finished with my objective, so I though I would--" "Nevermind! Clean up the mess around town." "Ladies and gentlemen, Zaku has left the building.", Spade thought. Silver trotted up to his father's dead body. "Daddy? Daddy! Wake up!" Silver started sobbing uncontrollably. "Please, wake up...." Spade felt so sorry for the youngster. She tried to comfort the German Shepherd, but he quickly looked at her with a face of deep sadness and intense rage. Spade couldn't stand to see the poor kid live with this, and scampered away faster than lightning. A tear rolled down her cheek as the memory ended. "Silver......", Spade said, starting to cry a river. "I'm sorr-- I'm sorry...." Back at camp, everyone was wondering where Spade had gone off to. Just as Victoria was about to issue a search party, Spade came walktzing up to the campsite. Everyone was chattering around her, asking where she was, what she was doing. But she was not alone. A hyena, black as night, with white feathery wings walked beside her. "Who is this?", Victoria asked. "This is..... Angel.", Spade began. "He's my.... my boss." Everyone gasped as Silver bellowed out a word Spade thought she'd never hear: 'traitor'. Gingka tried to defend Spade, but before he could, Spade admitted to being a traitor. "I'm sorry everyone...", she started. "And..... especially you, Gingka...." Gingka was puzzled. "Why?" "I was sent here...... to kill you....." Gingka couldn't believe what he was hearing, and ran off back to his tent. "I'm sorry everyone, but......", Spade chocked, as her voice quickly changed into a serious tone. "This is for the greater good." All of a sudden, Spade's face looked as if something was smushed against it. "Um...... Why is the camera close to my face?" Victoria stepped out of the crowd. "I'm not sure Spade, if that is your real name.", Victoria started. "Blame the playwright..." She stared at Spade with the intent to protect everyone from this menace. Spade whirled around, walking out of the gates. "Hahaha! You'd best prepare for the worst, runts!", Angel cackled before unfurling his wings and taking off. Meanwhile, in the Cave of Convergence, the boulder that had crushed Thistle, moved slightly. Episode 9: Boot Camp Everyone at camp was as busy as a bee. Many of the members were helping stock food and others pocketed ammo. Silver was overseeing the whole thing. The German shepherd took off his skull helmet and let the wind blow through his messy, scattered hair. "Hello Silver", a voice spoke behind him. Silver's eyes widened at the sight of Victoria. She was more beautiful than usual. "Hey, gorgeous...", Silver said, nuzzling her fur coat with his damp nose. "Hey. Where's Gingka?" Silver raised an eyebrow. "Gingka? I'm not sure where he is." Victoria walked off to where Geo was fumbling around with test dummies. "Hey, Geo." Geo looked at her. "Hey, Victoria. What brings you here?" "Nothing much. What are you doing?" Geo's attention shifted to the dummies, then back to the husky. "Training. Why?" "No reason.", Victoria smiled. "Have you seen Gingka?" "No, not really.", Geo said, his eyes shuffling downwards. "Well, that's okay. Continue with your training." Geo proceeded to clawing and biting the practice dummies. Victoria was waltzing through the nearby forest, dry leaves crunching under her feet. "I wonder where Gingka is....." She barely had time to think, before tripping over a lump in her path. It was Gingka, hiding under a bush. "Gingka?! What are you doing? Get out from under there?" The arctic wolf retreated deeper into the bushes, seeming scared. "Dude, get out from under there....!", Victoria strained, prying on one of Gingka's paws. Gingka swiped at her paws, scratching one of them. Victoria looked in awe at her slightly bleeding paw. "What is your problem?!" She pressed her head to the ground, teeth gritted. "Get out from under there...", she snarled, biting and dragging him out by the tail. "NOW!" Gingka had twisted his neck and sunk his teeth into Victoria's warm flesh. "Stay away from me!", Gingka snarled, before bending his left leg, tensed to fight. Victoria's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her bloody neck before running away, leaving Gingka alone. Geo had stopped training when he saw Victoria running towards the camp, blinded by her own tears. "Victoria....?", he questioned. "What's wron-" He couldn't finish his sentence because she had already whipped past him, running to Silver's tent. "What's wrong with her?" Geo walked off into the forest to see what she had ran from. Gingka was sitting under a beech tree, moping. "How could I have done that to.... to her....?" He tried to hide away from Geo's approaching presence. He was almost over a log when Geo stopped him, grabbing him by his left hind leg. "Gingka? What did you do?" Both of them were sitting calmly under the shady beech tree. "So.... you bit Victoria?", Geo looked at the saddened arctic wolf. "Yes, I did...", Gingka mumbled, swinging his head groundward. "Why?" Gingka looked at Geo, blazing fury in his eyes. "I.... I guess I'm still in shock about Spade..." "Oh... Yeah, I guess I am too." Gingka admitted something Geo never thought he would hear after that lone day: "I-- I think I'm in love with.... With Spade.", Gingka said sad-eyed. "WHAAAAAT?!", Geo screamed increduously. He dashed back to camp before Gingka could do a thing to stop him. Back at camp, Victoria was speaking with Silver while he healed her wounds. "I-- I-I I don't know why he attacked me...", she sobbed. "I just wanted to know what was wrong with him...." "Well....", Silver said, starting to apply a lotion-like liquid to her neck. "We were all in shock when Spade betrayed us, and--" He was suddenly interrupted by Geo, framtically running into the tent. He was babbling incoherently. "Geo, what's wrong? What happened?" Geo was still babbling insanely. Victoria slapped him out of the confusion. "Gingka's in love with Spade!", he said quickly. "What did you just say?", the canines barked in unison. "Spade?!" Episode 10: Mode Change, Online!